“THERE’S no better test than playing Parkes in Parkes.”
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
That is the opinion of Souths goalkeeper John Rudge, and even though he knows he and his team-mates will face a challenge in their men’s Premier League Hockey season opener, he can’t wait.
While Souths made it to the final game of season in 2016, it has been more than seven months since it went down to Lithgow Panthers in that grand final.
Souths sat out the first round of the season last Saturday with the bye, while Parkes United suffered an 8-1 loss to Lithgow Zig Zag in Lithgow.
But having stood in goals against Parkes for a number of seasons, Rudge knows better than to take that result as a sign this Saturday’s match will be easy.
“There is no doubt that they are a different team when they play in Parkes. They are always very heavily influenced by the mines and shift work, so they are always a very different side at home,” he said.
“They sort of set it up as a little bit of a fortress, they are quite strong at home, so we’re very keen to see how we go.”
Souths’ squad has seen some personnel changes since last season, but there are still plenty of players who were present in the two tough meetings with Parkes in 2016.
After playing out a 1-all draw in their first meeting, Souths scrapped home 3-2 in the rematch in Parkes.
It means Souths has put plenty of preparation into trying to make a winning start to the new season.
“We have had several trials in the pre-seaon, we had a a couple against Lithgow Panthers and they gave us a really good indication of where we were at and where we want to be,” Rudge said.
“We improved a lot from that first game to the second, so that shows we have been improving. They’ve been the benchmark of the competition for probably 10 years, so it is good side to compare yourself with to start.
“We have been working on certain structures that we want to improve, so we are really keen to get underway … certainly we are looking to start with win.”
The Parkes match will be played as part of a Premier League Hockey gala day, which sees all teams in both the men’s and women’s draw compete at the one venue.
Not only should that mean Parkes will have more than the bare 11 players which travelled to Lithgow, but a healthy group of supporters to cheer them on.
“It is actually meant to be our home game, so playing Parkes in Parkes for that gala day is going to be a little bit different,” Rudge said.
“Playing Parkes in Parkes is never easy, but it’s going to be especially tough being a season opener and their gala day when they are opening their new turf.”
Saturday’s match in Parkes will get underway at 3.30pm.